Thursday, January 30, 2014

How to throw a baby shower for the classy, confident mom-to-be

This past weekend I had the pleasure of co-hosting a baby shower for one of my oldest and closest friends. You may remember her from my wedding or more recently {though nearly 2 years ago} when I posted about her wedding! Nicole wanted something classy and elegant that didn't scream baby shower and I like to think that's exactly what we did. Now here are the steps on how to get it done!

One. Find some awesome friends to co-host it with. Throwing showers are far from inexpensive but if you find the right people to host it with you, costs are cut as well as planning. You have people to collaborate with and make sure you hit each and every detail.

Two. Include the dad-to-be and make it a couples shower. Guys can be included in a baby shower! See step three to find the best way to get the guys involved! But seriously, dads need to be recognized too. They may not be carrying the child, but they're about to be a parent too and probably want to be more included than you think!!

**Don't get any ideas. JP is not a dad-to-be, but he was my hot date and even wore pink for the baby girl!**

Three. Include cocktails. If the momma-to-be isn't offended by others drinking when she can't, bring on the drinks. It keeps the party more entertaining for the guests! You can also include a fun signature drink. We chose Pompagne as our ssignature drink! Just champage and pomenganate juice for a pretty dark pink drink. We also provided several types of beer, Chardonnay and Savangon Blanc!

Four. Limited, classy decor. Not everything has to scream baby, baby, baby! I believe you should go with the nursery colors. Nicole's colors are hot raspberry and golden yellow. Hence the popmagne signature drink! We added a few paper pom-poms, colored straws, yellow and pink M&M's, wrapping paper and other touches here and there.

Five. Make sure there is plenty of food. Appetizers, dinner, snacks galore! Nicole's mom was amazing and had fajitas catered. (And did I mention she also let us use her home as the location? Miss Kathy is the best!) We were sure to include non-Mexican food appetizers to appeal to everyone's pallets!

Six. Don't forget the desserts. If you think you've made too many desserts, you're wrong. There is a reason desserts has a double ss and desert is singe. You always need more desserts. Naturally, I was in charge of desserts.

Yellow and Pink cupcake toppers!

Seven. Open presents. It's fun for the mom-to-be and the guests. Everyone loves to see the reaction on her face when she opens their present.

Eight. Limit games and let the guest enjoy the atmosphere. Don't force games on them. But have some in the reserves just in case they're necessary to get people to mingle! We had two:

Clothes Pin Game

Midnight Diaper Change

Instructions for games below!

Nine. Sit back, relax, sip some wine and eat a cupcake. You've done the planning and the night is sure to be a blast!

There you have it! A classy couples baby shower just need a few touches of love, a lot of food, some drinks here and there and all the people that will love and adore the baby when he/she enters the world. Princess Penelope, I am just dying to meet you! I'll love you forever!

Have you thrown a baby shower or wedding shower before?What other steps would you add to the list?